Living a Lie
by MiaElizabeth
Summary: 'What he did to me... it destroyed me. You'll never want me Edward, because I'm damaged goods! Can't you see that.' Edward looked at her, shocked. She'd told him her secret, now it was time for him to tell her his - Vampire Cullens and Usual Pairings. - ON HIATUS, I don't know when I will continue this.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I've had a ton of story ideas bouncing around in my mind for a few months now, and then suddenly this one popped into my mind recently and I've decided to write it before my other ideas, I just got really excited planning it out. This Prologue is just a teaser, if I get a positive response I'll continue with this story.**

**I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all. She can have the story, I just want Edward! However, sadly I can't have him, because she owns him too. **_**Sigh.**_

XxXxX

_Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be._

_-Fannie Brice_

_**Prologue**_

Bella Swan squinted as the bright lights hit her eyes. Everyone around her was cheering, and she smiled as she pushed her hand up in the air

She could feel his eyes on her, as her hips swayed to the music. She knew she didn't love him; he was just good company and a really great person. And she knew the feeling was mutual.

She thrust her arm out, and watched as her Pom Poms shuffled, a result of the slight breeze.

She knew she had to be honest with him about what he _wanted._ It wouldn't be right for them to do it.

She thought he would understand. She thought everything would be okay. But she was so wrong.

What _did_ happen was the last thing she ever expected.


	2. Hurt

_**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns ALL!  
>Thank you to everyone who read the Prologue.<br>Please review :)**_

_**Chapter 1 – Hurt**_

_The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy.  
>- Jim Rohn<em>

XxXxX

I got out of my bed glumly, and trudged to my closet. I quickly grabbed a pair of black jeans, a white wife beater, and a black hoodie that had a small grey cracked heart on it.

I quickly threw my clothes on, and grabbed my backpack. I walked downstairs and left the house, without eating breakfast and without muttering a word to my dad, Charlie.

My mom left my dad when I was a baby. I lived with her till I was about thirteen, and then I decided to live with Charlie, because he was alone in Forks, and my mom had Phil, so it only seemed fair really.

But then my mom got tired of travelling around with Phil all the time, she claimed it was exhausting. And like my mom tended to do with men, she left them and quickly found some new meat to sink her teeth into. Only that time, she decided to come back to Forks and attempt to fix things with Charlie. Of course she was successful, he'd been pining for her since the day she ran off.

I wasn't thrilled when they got back together. I knew she would only end up hurting him again, and when she left him I wouldn't be going with her, and then she and I wouldn't talk because I didn't go with her, and I'd be funny with my dad because if he hadn't have gotten back with my mom then it wouldn't be happening and blah, blah, blah. I knew their relationship would ruin everything, period.

And I was right. My mom lasted three years in Forks, which I'll admit is a long time for her. She got bored of small town life, and decided to start afresh in Jacksonville, Florida, where she coincidentally bumped into Phil, and now they're married.

I do love both of my parents, because, well, they're my parents! But I wasn't very close with either of them. I used to be insanely close with my mom before she got together with Phil the first time. When they started dating, it was like she forgot about me. Then I moved to Forks, figuring it was useless moping around Phoenix. Therefore, when I arrived at Forks, I started a new life, I became a new me. I made friends and had this new, bubbly personality. I wanted to be someone different, and I was.

In Phoenix, I was quiet and reserved. I liked to read, listen to music and soak up the sun. And now, I can't really describe what kind of person I am. What _he_ did to me, it broke me, and now I'm just nothing.

I hopped into my truck, and turned the heat on straight away. I didn't even attempt to get my stereo to work; it was just going to make me late, _again._

I drove down the icy streets of Forks, careful not to go to fast. I saw two cars stuck on the side of the rode on my way to school. Forks' weather is worse than death sometimes.

I gently bounced my truck into the school parking lot, and pulled into the first space I found. I grabbed my backpack and hopped out

I looked around the parking lot as I slammed my truck's door shut. Everyone was engaging in conversation, there was like an energetic buzz hovering around the place. I sighed and just went straight to homeroom

I sat at the back of the class, in my usual seat. I grabbed my iPod out of my bag, and stuck my earphones in my ears. _Muse_ began blaring into my ears, and I just stared at my desk

I couldn't hear anything besides Muse, but somehow I knew that someone had occupied the seat next to me. I pulled my earphones out, and raised my eyebrows at the tiny, golden eyed girl sitting next to me

"Hi, I'm Alice Cullen," she introduced herself with a huge smile on her face

"Bella," I said, nodding my head stiffly. She pursed her lips, and examined my facial expression

"I'm bothering you aren't I?" she asked, sighing. Just as I was about to reply she grinned and said, "Oh, well you'll get used to sitting beside me eventually."

I stared at her, shocked. _How did she know I was going to say that I wasn't used to sitting next to someone?_

"My brother needs me; I'll see you later, Bella. My soon to be best friend," she said, and skipped off

I stared at the seat she had previously been sitting in, absolutely stunned. Normally I would say to someone, 'I don't do friends,' but Alice, the new girl, was different. Her quirky personality, as much as I'd hate to admit it, was such a breath of fresh air for me.

After homeroom I made my way to English, and bumped into Alice on my way. She walked with me, claiming she had English next as well

We walked into class, and she followed me to the back of the class, and sat in the seat beside my own, which was always empty. After a few minutes of silence, she started asking questions

"Don't you have any friends?" she asked me

"I don't do friends," I muttered

"Why not?" she questioned, too curious for her own good

"Because when you get attached to someone, they end up hurting you. I refuse to put myself out there to be hurt," I answered

"Not everyone will hurt you, Bella," she sighed and I shrugged. She didn't know what I'd been through, so I didn't expect her to understand

I pulled out my notebook, and began to take notes. I didn't get much written down, most of the words coming out of the teacher's mouth weren't registering in my brain... I felt distracted.

I walked to Government after English, and Alice skipped beside me, and I didn't really mind

"Our schedules are identical, aren't they?" I guessed

"Yep," Alice said, grinning

"And how do you know that?" I questioned

"Because I asked for my schedule to be the same as yours of course, silly," she giggled. I stared at her, unsure of what to say. In the end I decided not to question her weird antics, because I assumed she pulled that kind of crap all the time

"Okay then... when did you move here?" I asked

"About a week ago. I really wanted to come back to school, but our family had some stuff to sort out, so it took longer for me to enroll than I had hoped," she explained

"Have you got any siblings?"

"Yeah, two brothers, a sister and then my... _boyfriend_, Jasper. We were all adopted by my parents, Esme and Carlisle. Rosalie, my sister, and Jasper are twins, so they are Hales. Edward, Emmet and I are Cullen's, which is why I can date Jasper, and Emmet can date Rosalie without it being creepy," she continued to explain and I nodded

We walked into Government and she continued to babble on and I just nodded my head absentmindedly. I was having one of those moments where the memories of _him_ hit me.

_I was chatting away with Lauren animatedly, and he put his arm around my waist and I smiled._

"_Seriously Bell, that shirt is hot. Where did you get it?" she asked me_

_As I was telling her about the store I got my shirt from, I could feel him kissing my neck, his hot breath making me shiver._

"_Err, Lauren, I need to get to class. I'll see you at practice tonight, and you can come back to my house later or something and we can talk," I told her and she nodded and grinned_

_He dragged me off to the staircase by the gym that nobody ever used. He pulled my face closer, and crashed his lips onto mine._

_As his hands went towards my jean button, I pulled back_

"_Not here... I'm not ready yet," I whispered_

_I saw something flicker in his eye, but I ignored it because he smiled at me_

"_That's okay, take your time, Bella," he assured me_

Looking back, I could easily recognise that flicker in his eye as annoyance

"Bella? Are you okay?" Alice asked, worried

"Yeah... sure."

**ALICE POV:**

There was something different about Bella, and I knew it from the very first vision I had had of her

She was the first person, human _or_ vampire, that I had had a vision about their past! The day we arrived in Forks, I had had a vision of the two of us meeting, and then a vision of us in her bedroom a year from now, discussing a trip to Port Angeles. We were best friends. I got very excited and some more visions kept coming of the two of us, or some of just her, and even two of her and Edward

These visions had obviously won Edward's attention. He saw the visions in my mind, and was curious about her immediately. I didn't allow him to see the visions of him and Bella together. They weren't anything serious, the first was the two of them meeting, and the second was them talking in a meadow somewhere. But I knew Edward more than anybody. He never communicated with humans, so clearly Bella would be very special to him once they met, and he'll figure that out before even meeting her, and then he'll try not to meet her to protect her, because he saw himself as a monster. I wasn't having any of that bullshit.

After those visions, I began to have visions of her past. I was amazed that she was a cheerleader... and such a good one at that. She didn't seem like a cheerleader type, she walked around in black jeans, black hoodies and black chucks.

I knew that something had happened to her, to make her change so drastically. I also knew that the person she wanted to be the most, was the person she was back in Phoenix, that was where she was happy and relaxed

I made it my new goal in life to find out what happened to Bella Swan, and help her put it all behind her

As we sat next to each other in Government, she blanked out all of a sudden and I began to have a vision.

_Everything was blurry, all I could hear was an irritating beeping noise and I could just about recognise Bella's face. Her breathing was weak. The beeping on the monitor suddenly went wild and then... everything went red._

I gasped, and looked at Bella who still looked deep in thought. I knew that vision was one of the past, because Bella looked slightly younger, not by much though, a year at the most.

I couldn't make out where she was in the vision, everything was blurry. I knew it had something to do with why Bella always looked so haunted. I was genuinely worried about Bella; I wanted to know what had happened to her... I had this overwhelming urge to help her. Because whether she liked it or not, she was my best friend

"Bella, are you okay?" I asked her, worried

After giving me the most unconvincing '_yeah, sure,'_ I'd ever heard, she began taking notes

Once school was over and Bella was driving home in her truck, I decided to do some snooping. I snuck into the school's office, and managed to find Bella's file.

I skimmed through it quickly, noticing her extracurricular stuff. She'd been student body president during her Sophomore year, was head cheerleader and she used to voluntarily tutor middle school kids on the weekends. It also mentioned something about art, but I already knew everything I needed to about that.

I ran home, and noticed Edward sitting at his piano, looking completely puzzled. I guess he met Bella.

I walked over to my Jasper, and sat on his lap. I kissed him passionately, having missed him today

"Where were you at lunch?" he asked me

"I was with Bella Swan," I told him

"The girl from the visions? The one whose past you've been seeing?" he questioned

"Mmhmm. She's something else Jazz, I swear. She's constantly changing. She was a cheerleader! And now she looks like she hasn't slept in a year, and she constantly looks haunted," I told him, perplexed

"You'll figure it out Alice, you always do," Jasper soothed me, using his power

"I just want to help her. I feel so drawn to her. She's my best friend," I told him and he chuckled at the last bit

"_You_ are something else, Alice Cullen," he said and then we continued to kiss.

**BELLA POV:**

I walked into Biology after lunch, the one lesson I didn't have with Alice. She'd said we had identical schedules, but for some reason we didn't have Bio together. I sat at the back in the corner, and realised I was fifteen minutes early

I pulled out my notebook, and turned to the last page. I started aimlessly moving my pencil across the page, not entirely sure what I was... drawing, I guess.

Ten minutes later, I had a half completed drawing of a dead flower. I was going over the outline of the flower again, when I heard the chair next to me move. I slammed my notebook shut, and dropped my pencil

I didn't look next to me to see who it was. I'd already met one strange girl today, I didn't need to meet any more weird people for about five years

I pulled out my biology notes, and began to add to them as the teacher came in and started to talk

"Class, we have a new student today, Edward Cullen," Mr Barner said, and pointed at the seat next to mine. _Alice's brother._

I turned around and looked at him.

_Oh. My. God._


	3. Attached

**A/N: Wow, hey guys! First update in a while, right? I haven't wrote much for this story in a while, I know. I'm struggling with it, quite a lot. I was so excited when I started it, I had it all planned out! I just don't know where to take it anymore. But I'm going to keep trying to write more, I promise. Please Review and let me know what you think of this chapter!**

**Thank you to everybody who Read & Reviewed the previous chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of it's Characters.**

_**** "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." ****_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 2 - Attached<strong>_

Damn you Mr Barner for making him sit next to me! His eyes, constantly evaluating me, were making me uncomfortable. He looked frustrated for some reason... and he also looked pained.

I tried to take some notes, but I just couldn't concentrate with him staring at me like that! If it was anyone else, I'd tell them to walk away and never come back... but I couldn't do that to him. He was like Alice, he was different. It was impossible to be angry at a Cullen. I knew I couldn't hate this guy, even though I'd never spoken to him.

I pulled my jumper off, feeling incredibly hot sitting next to the heater. I pulled my hair back and tied it up, and continued to scribble notes in my notebook

"Bella, can you tell me where Cells arise from?" Mr Barner asked me

"From other cells using cell division," I muttered and he nodded, moving on to pick on someone else.

**EDWARD POV**

I couldn't read her mind. Her blood smelt like heaven. She was beautiful. This... is hell.

I was desperately trying not to think about drinking her blood... but it was so hard! She must have thought I was a freak, staring at her like this. But of course, I couldn't tell because for some reason, I couldn't read her mind!

I sighed in frustration. Alice knew this was going to happen, and she didn't even warn me.

When she took her hoodie off and tied her hair up, I thought I was going to die. More of her flawless creamy skin was on display... more skin for my teeth to sink into.

I'd seen some of Alice's visions of Bella in her mind, and I was really intrigued by her. I wanted to know why she was always so depressed, and why she didn't _'do friends'_ as she had said to Alice earlier in the day. There was something incredibly fascinating about this girl, and I was determined to get to know her.

**BELLA POV**

I got home after school, and went straight to my room. Thoughts of Edward Cullen were dancing around in my mind. He didn't say a word, but he had stared at me throughout class and it was so... intense.

I sighed and flopped onto my bed. Alice Cullen was trying to bring my walls down, and I knew it. I didn't want them to come down though; if they came down I'd be left vulnerable.

I grabbed my iPod and put my earphones in. Metallica began to fill my ears, and I began my English homework. I flipped open my Macbook Laptop, and begun typing up my piece of creative writing which was due in tomorrow.

Four hours later, I had a complete ten page story. I printed it out, scribbled my name on the front page, and then went downstairs to grab something to eat.

Charlie was in the lounge watching baseball, as usual. As I stepped into the kitchen, the phone started to ring

"Hello," I muttered when I picked it up

"Hi Bella, it's your mom. I want to speak to you about something," Renee told me

"Go ahead," I mumbled

"Well, it's mine and Phil's first wedding Anniversary in October. I know its five months away, but we have to start buying plane tickets for those who are coming that live far away. It's on the 24th of October which is a Friday, but I'm sure Charlie will let you have one day off school to come over here," Renee said

"I can't come," I told her

"What? Why not?" she demanded

"I have midterms that week. Meaning I will have a midterm on that day. I can't miss a midterm, it highly affects the outcome of my final grade," I explained

"Oh. Well, will we be seeing you at Christmas?" she asked

"Well, Charlie and I are supposed to be going to La Push on Christmas day for dinner, because he hasn't seen Billy in a long time," I explained to her and cringed, knowing what was coming

"You mean to tell me, that you're going to _Billy's_ on Christmas day? I thought Charlie and Billy didn't even like each other? You are coming to Florida for Christmas Isabella!" Renee said angrily. I bit my tongue, to stop myself from shouting

"No mom, I'm not. I'm going to La Push with Charlie, because I haven't seen Jacob and Billy in nearly four years, because you hate Billy for no reason! Have a good anniversary, I'll see you whenever," I said and slammed the phone back in its holder.

I quickly had some pop tarts, and went back to my room in a bad mood. I pulled on an oversized t-shirt and some clean underwear, and got into bed, and before I knew it I had drifted to sleep.

I woke up the next morning and quickly got dressed. I pulled on a black sweater that had one draping shoulder, a pair of dark worn, faded jeans and a pair of black motorcycle boots. I tied my hair up, grabbed my backpack and ran downstairs. I grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen, and then left. I got into my truck, turned the heat up and drove to school. It was a bit warmer than yesterday, not by much though. Considering its April, this was cold, even for Forks.

I parked my truck in the school parking lot, as it came to a shuddering halt. I jumped out of my truck, grabbed my bag, and walked to homeroom. I sat at my table at the back, and less than ten seconds later, Alice skipped into the room. She plopped into the chair next to mine and grinned up at me

"Good morning, Bella," she greeted me

"Hey," I muttered

"Did you have a good evening yesterday?" she asked curiously

"It was dull, how was yours?" I replied, not wanting to hurt her feelings

"Great, Jazz and I went out for a little while. I really think you'd like him, he's quiet like you and he's been through a lot," she told me

"I couldn't imagine you with someone quiet," I said and chuckled humourlessly

"Opposites attract, right?" she said with a shrug

I just nodded as I opened up my notebook, avoiding the pages with unfinished sketches on

"So, I was wondering if you'd sit with me and my family at lunch today, they'd really like you," Alice said. I cringed; I'd hoped to avoid this kind of thing

"Alice... we only met yesterday," I reminded her

"Fine, I guess I'll try again next week," she sighed as class started. Even though I tried to avoid showing it, I did like Alice, it was nearly impossible to be depressed around her. She said that one day we'll be best friends, and I was worried about getting attached to her or pushing her away and hurting her feelings. However, in a weird way, I believed that it would happen.

My morning classes went by quickly, and I felt myself becoming more comfortable around Alice. The bell for lunch rang, and I headed towards the cafeteria with Alice

"So, I know that you don't want to sit with my entire family, but I'm warning you now that Edward will most probably come and speak to me about a family thing and he'll end up sitting with us," Alice warned me.

"What? How do you know that?" I asked her, completely perplexed.

"Just a feeling," she said with a shrug. I decided to drop the subject.

Once we got into the cafeteria, I grabbed myself a salad and a bottle of lemonade.

"I see you haven't got a huge appetite," Alice noted

"I don't tend to eat at school," I said bluntly.

"And you don't eat much at home either," she commented and my brows furrowed, and I ignored the fact she was implying I didn't eat enough

"Are you stalking me or something?" I asked her, my shoulders tensed. Alice erupted into laughter and shook her head

"No, Bella. I am most certainly not stalking you," she assured me and I sighed

We headed to an empty table in the corner and sat down. I popped a small tomato in my mouth as Alice continued to bombard me with questions

"What size are you? A two?" She asked me and I choked on my tomato

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked her

"Bella, please don't tell me you're smaller than a two," she said seriously. I banged my head on the table and groaned

"Fine, let's forget about that. Have you ever had a boyfriend?" She asked, a grin now on her face. I completely froze and my lips were pressed into a tight line as a memory hit me

_We sat with our usual group of friends at lunch, and he had his arm around my shoulders. _

"_So, we're going to Winter Formal together, right?" He asked me_

"_Wow, what a romantic way to be asked," I snorted_

"_I'm sorry for assuming my girlfriend would go to Formal with me," he said with an eye roll. I completely froze in shock, my eyes wide open._

"_G-G-Girlfriend?" I stuttered_

"_You don't consider me your boyfriend?" He asked, a small frown on his face_

"_It's just, well, we never discussed it," I mumbled_

"_I have a photo of you in my locker, I've told you that I love you, I hold your hand and kiss you in front of all my friends. How much more obvious could it get?" He asked and I sighed_

"_You don't love me, and you know that," I said._

_He looked at me, completely outraged. He stood up, and walked out of the cafeteria. I sighed in frustration. I had thought we were on the same page, I thought he agreed that we were just close friends._

"Bella? Hello? _Bella!_" Alice practically shouted

"What? _Oh! _I'm sorry, I guess I blanked out a little bit there," I said, frowning

"You do that a lot," Alice commented and I just shrugged

Suddenly, the seat opposite me was occupied by a stunning, tall, bronze haired boy

"Alice," Edward greeted her with a small smile on his face. He glanced at me, with the usual glint of frustration in his eyes, and then focused on Alice.

"I'm not going with Emmet and Jasper tonight, I'm just going to stay in Forks," Edward said to Alice and she nodded

"I bet I can guess why," she snorted, "You'll probably be doing the same thing you did last night."

Alice and Edward stared at each other for a few minutes, as though they were having a silent conversation. Once they were finished, Alice begun to talk to me animatedly, and even Edward spoke to me a little bit

"I'm sorry I didn't really introduce myself yesterday, I'm Edward Cullen," he said to me

"She knows who you are," Alice said with a giggle. Edward raised an eyebrow at me and I just shrugged

"I don't understand her either," I mumbled and he smiled

"Yeah, she's a weird one," he agreed

"In a good way," I said, and Alice beamed at me as Edward nodded

The three of us continued to talk throughout lunch, and before I knew it the bell rang to signal the end of lunch

"Biology," I sighed and Alice smiled at me comfortingly, as if she understood how weird it was for me sitting next to Edward yesterday.

"I'll see you in gym," she said and I nodded

I left the cafeteria and headed towards Biology, with Edward _sort of_ walking with me. He was a few steps ahead, but he was constantly looking at me the whole way.

Once we arrived at our classroom, we took our seats

"Is Alice the only other person you talk to at school, besides teachers?" Edward asked me suddenly

"Pretty much," I replied, the subject making me feel a tiny bit uncomfortable

"She loves you to pieces, she's gotten attached. I know that you're worried about that happening, because you worry you'll hurt her, but you won't. In a year's time, you and Alice will be best friends and you'll love her just as much, I guarantee it," Edward told me

I looked at him in surprise. How did he know so much? He was just like Alice

"How do you know that I'm worried about her getting attached?" I asked him curiously

"I can read you like a book," he said with a shrug

I knew there was more to it than that, but I decided to let it drop and begun focusing on the teacher

There was something weird about the Cullen's, and I would figure out their secret one day, even if it killed me.


	4. Trust

**A/N: Yay, another update! I'm writing this story, slowly but surely. I manged to finish chapter 5 tonight, which I'd left untouched for about two weeks, so I'm glad to have gotten that one out of the way. I'm looking forward to writing the chapter when everything's uncovered. Where they tell each other their secrets. But I don't want to rush the story. **

**Just want to remind you guys of a few things. Firstly, I know that there hasn't been many Bella and Edward moments, but I assure you, there will be. At the moment, I'm focusing on Bella trying to let a friend in (Alice). After you go through something traumatic like Bella, it's not like you can skip everything else and just jump into a relationship, you have to ease into it, right?**

**Secondly, I wanted to remind you guys that this is rated 'M' still. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but in later chapters you will see why. Now, I don't know if I'll be doing an Edward/Bella lemon, that's not exactly why I rated it 'M'. The violence is the main reason, and there is a sex part, but it's not a positive thing... I'm trying not to give away too much about that. But anyway, the more I think about it, I think I should do an Edward/Bella lemon! Let me know what you guys think in your reviews!**

**Thank you to everybody who Read & Reviewed the previous chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or any of it's characters.**

_**** "A friend is someone who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself." ****_

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Chapter 3 - Trust<span>_**

For the last three weeks, I had spent all of my time with Alice. She followed me home one day, and dragged me out of my house and drove me to Port Angeles to watch a movie. And she had followed me home every day since.

I didn't mind her coming home with me, I was beginning to enjoy it actually. I was a little annoyed when she brought a bunch of new clothes over for me one day, but I got over it.

I pulled on a pair of dark, worn jeans and I threw on a black shirt and a red jacket. I didn't normally wear anything unless it was black, grey or white, but I was getting tired of Alice nagging at me to put some colour into my closet. I shoved my feet into my black chucks and then grabbed my backpack.

I walked out of the house, and Alice was waiting on the drive for me in her yellow Porsche, as usual. I hopped into the car, used to our daily routine. She handed me a Granola bar.

"Eat," she commanded and I rolled my eyes. Alice rolled off the driveway, and then suddenly we were driving a hundred miles per hour.

"Jesus, Alice! You need to stop driving like this, or you're going to kill us one day!" I screeched

"I've never crashed, Bella. I know how to drive," she snickered and I watched as the dial sailed to one hundred and twenty

We pulled into the school parking lot, after three, long, torturous minutes of driving.

"Okay, no more driving me to school," I complained as I got out of the car

"Don't ruin my fun," she whined and I smiled at her. _A genuine smile!_ She smiled back and linked her arm with mine, and proceeded to drag me to homeroom.

"Can I take you out this weekend Bella, _please?_" Alice begged

"My mom's coming to see me, sorry. I couldn't go to Florida, so she's decided to come to Forks to visit me with Phil," I sighed, not happy about it at all

"Oh. Do you need a friend for support?"Alice said, offering to help me, as she always seems to do.

"My mom is... Complicated. She can never decide what she wants, and she's very critical. Sometimes she dislikes people for no reason at all. She was a great mom to me when I lived with her, and she's kind and loving, but she's difficult to please sometimes," I explained, Alice frowned.

"Bella, even if your mother dislikes me, and criticises me, it won't affect the way I see you as a person. Is that what you're worried about?" She asked, looking a little bit hurt. I shrugged and bit my lip, unsure of what to say

"I'll come with you on Saturday to the airport to meet her, and I'll even spend the whole day with you," she said

"How did you know I was meeting her at the airport?" I questioned, frustrated at her knowledge

"Bella, how many times have I told you to not ask? I'm just good at guessing these kinds of things," she said with a shrug. My whole body stiffened, and everything went black as a memory hit me.

"_Come on, Bella," he whispered in my ear seductively. The temptation was there, but I knew I wasn't going to do it._

"_We can't. I told you, I'm not ready for this," I mumbled_

"_Please, Bella. I need you, now," he moaned, I felt my cheeks heat up._

_I turned around in his arms, and planted a kiss on his lips. He held onto me tightly and deepened the kiss. His arms trailed over my collarbone, down my arms, over my hips and stopped at my thighs. He moved his fingers along my bare thigh, and his hand headed dangerously north._

_I pulled away, afraid this was going too far. _

"_Not yet," I muttered, finality dominating my voice._

"_You'll give into me soon," he said with a small smile. I lifted an eyebrow, confused._

"_How'd you know?" I questioned_

"_I'm good at guessing these kinds of things," he said with a shrug_

"**Bella!** It really creeps me out when you do this!" Alice said, grabbing hold of my shoulders and shaking me

"Whoa! Quit shaking me," I muttered, slightly annoyed. Alice sighed in relief and let go of me

"You scared me then, you froze and your eyes shut. I thought you'd passed out or something," She said, panic dripping from her mouth

"Sorry, it just happens sometimes," I mumbled

**Edward POV:**

I listened to Alice's thoughts during homeroom. I watched her have a vision of Bella's past, just as Bella was having a flashback of the exact same moment. This was weird. Alice's power was stronger when she was having visions of Bella, and Alice was going crazy trying to figure out why.

Bella was warming up to Alice though, which was making Alice unbelievably happy. She felt like she had a best friend in Bella already. All Alice wanted to do was help her, and she was determined to figure out Bella's past, so that she could emotionally support her. But Bella was stubborn; she didn't want people to know her past. She didn't want us to know what had happened, and we were desperate to find out.

I didn't always get along with my sister, we argued a lot, but we were on the same side in this. We would figure out what Bella was hiding, even if it killed us.

_**Alice POV:**_

_Whoa! _I saw a memory of Bella's in a vision, and it was the exact same one she had had a flashback of and it happened at the exact same moment! This had never happened before. Not even with Bella.

I knew she was different; her personality wasn't like the rest of the human's at Forks High School. However, I couldn't figure out why her mind was so different. Her mind only allowed me to see so much, like there were some of her memories locked away and she'd thrown away the key. She had blocked them, without even realising it. Her mind was strong; if she was ever turned into a Vampire she would have an incredibly powerful talent.

Whoever that guy was in the flashback she just had, is lucky I don't know who he is. Because what he was pressuring her to do is just sick, especially when he knew she wasn't ready. I'd rip his head off if I met him. I didn't know what he looked like though... his face was blurred out, clearly another thing Bella's mind was shielding.

I didn't allow Edward to see what the guy was doing, because I knew he would flip. He was protective of Bella... and as much as he denied it, he knew exactly why.

_**Bella POV:**_

I sat in Biology with Edward; we were in the middle of a pop quiz. Finals were in a month's time, therefore there were many more quizzes coming.

Edward was first to finish, then I finished about a minute later. We sat in silence whilst we waited for the rest of the class to finish.

I glanced over at Edward. He was writing in his notebook. I sighed, pretty bored without Alice.

I looked at the desk, and saw a piece of folded paper with my name scribbled on the front. I looked at Edward, and he bobbed his head at the note. I picked up the note and Edward had written:

_Alice wants you to come over tonight. She was planning on asking you in gym, but she has a feeling you'll say no to her. Please don't let her down; she really wants you to meet our family. They will love you, I promise._

_Edward._

I sighed and started writing on a page of my notebook.

_I don't know. It doesn't seem right._

I slipped the piece of paper over to him. He glanced at it, and started writing on the bottom of it, then slipped it back.

_I know what this is about. This is about her getting attached, and thinking that you look at her as a best friend. You look at it as if it's a bad thing, but it's not. Alice makes you feel better about yourself, I can tell. So pushing her away doesn't make any sense._

_Edward._

I sighed and nodded and muttered, "Fine."

He smiled at me and mouthed, "Thank you." Then we both sat in silence and waited for the rest of the class to finish their quizzes.

Thirty minutes later I walked into the gym, and spotted Alice waiting for me outside the female locker rooms

"Yes, okay, I'll come over tonight," I sighed as I approached her. She squealed and jumped up and down

"_Yay!_ I'm going to owe Edward _forever_ for this, but I'm too excited to care!" She almost screamed. I couldn't help but smile at how excited she was that I was going to her house. It actually made me feel sort of... wanted, in a way.

After the final bell rang at three o'clock, I walked out into the parking lot with Alice at my side. We hopped into her Porsche, and we made our way to her house.

Alice chatted away to me the whole drive there, telling me all about her family. Her father, Carlisle, was a doctor at Forks Hospital. And her mother, Esme, volunteered at Forks' Kindergarten four days a week.

Alice took a sharp left, and drove up a narrow dirt road. After miles of absolute nothing, we turned onto the drive of the most beautiful house I'd ever seen; a glass wall ran up the entire South side of the three story house.

As I got out of the Porsche, I listened to my surroundings. I could hear the light trickle of water nearby. _A river._

Alice dragged me into the giant house, and the front door opened onto a huge space which must have originally been several rooms. Standing by the stairs in the room was Edward, smiling warmly at us both.

"The family have gone out, they won't be back for a few hours," Edward said, throwing a secretive look at Alice

"Will they be back in time to meet Bella?" Alice asked

"Yes, they'll be back by six hopefully," Edward informed us both. Alice nodded her head, smiling

"You should have gone with them, you know. You haven't been in a while, because of the, err... thing, that's been going on," Alice said, shooting him with a pointed look

"I'm going sometime this week," he told her and Alice smiled again, pleased with herself

"Bella, let's go up to my room for a little while. Then Edward and I will make you dinner later! We've been practicing our cooking skills, haven't we, Edward," Alice giggled and Edward rolled his eyes

"Only you have the talent to burn Pasta _that_ badly Alice," Edward said with a chuckle

"What can I say, I'm skilled," Alice joked and I smiled. Edward then left, saying he needed to go and get some groceries for dinner.

Alice and I walked up the staircase, and she pulled me into her bedroom. I sat on her bed, whilst she ran into her closet for a moment. She returned with a box in her hand, and she planted herself on the bed in front of me. We both sat with our legs crossed, staring at each other warily.

"What's in the box?" I asked her nervously

"Well, I know that you struggle to trust people, Bella. And I don't doubt that you have a good reason too. However, I will desperately try to prove to you every day that you can trust me if I have to," Alice explained to me. I smiled at her, touched by how much she cared

She opened the box and pushed it in front of me. I pulled out the notebook that was hidden in the box, and I flipped it open. On every page there were poems. I read a few and then looked up at Alice, amazed

"Did you write these?" I gasped and she nodded

"They're fantastic, Alice. It means a lot to me that you trusted me enough to take a look at them," I murmured, staring at the notebook.

"Well, I know that you draw... amazingly. And I hoped that if I showed you my poems, you might open up to me one day and show me some of you art," Alice mumbled. It was the first time I had actually seen her looking shy

I bit my lip, contemplating whether or not I was ready to show her them. Some of them were quite personal to me, and if anybody knew I was the person in some of the pictures, they'd know what had happened to me

"Well... if I show you my sketchbook, can I choose the drawing that you see?" I asked her and she grinned

"Of course. I don't want you showing me the drawings that are personal to you if it would make you uncomfortable. I wouldn't have shown you my poems if I was uncomfortable. I trust you enough to not feel self conscious about them though," she admitted and I smiled softly at her. She really was the nicest person I had ever met.

I grabbed my backpack, and pulled my sketchbook out. I flipped through it, and finally settled on a sketch to show her. It was a sketch I'd recently completed, of a girl in a ripped up dress with tears on her cheeks. She had a cracked heart tattooed on her chest, and in the background there is a nasty storm of rain, thunder and lightning. The girl has Angel Wings, but they are deteriorating. There are cuts on her arms and bruises on her thighs.

Alice stared at the sketch, her mouth wide open. She looked as though she was lost for words. She traced the girls Wings, and looked up at me

"Bella, that is brilliant. Every detail of it is perfect. You're probably the best Artist I have ever met," Alice gasped, still staring at it. I didn't really know what to say, I felt uncomfortable when people complimented me

"Could I see another one, please?" Alice asked, smiling at me. I nodded my head, and found another one to show her.

It was a picture of a Fire in the middle of a meadow, and a girl is throwing a piece of paper into the fire with the words _'My Dignity' _written on it. The meadow is surrounded by beautiful wild flowers of all sorts of rich and bright colours. But by the girls foot there is a lone, black, dead rose. It's night time, and there's a full moon shining in the background.

"Wow, Bella. Your drawings are so intense. I can understand the messages they give too," Alice whispered, examining my sketch

Once Alice was finished looking, I closed my sketchbook and shoved it into my backpack

"Thank you for trusting me to see them, Bella. It means a lot. I know that you're hurting from something that happened in the past, and it prevents you from trusting. Showing me your art is a big step though. And soon you'll be able to tell me, or even Edward, what happened to you, because you know that you can trust us. We only want to help you," Alice told me, comfortingly

"Why Edward?" I asked, rather curious. I didn't like discussing my past, but I was interested to know why Alice thought I'd tell Edward about it

"Because, the two of you haven't realised it yet, but you mean more to each other than you can even understand," Alice said, and I rolled my eyes. She really was odd sometimes, but she was a great friend. I felt more... normal, around her. And Edward as well. I couldn't see myself opening up to anybody about what happened to me, not even Alice and Edward... but I've learnt to never argue with Alice Cullen.


End file.
